In the elaborate fantasy world in my head, Taylor Swift is one of my Galentines. She is the soundtrack to my subpar love life, and her cats give me fantasy allergies. This February 13th, when we’re all with our real-life Galentines having picnics on the Kuruvungna Steps or movie nights on the Hill or eating those sickeningly pink Ralph’s cookies, we should also be listening to Taylor Swift. And I’ll make it easy! Here’s a short playlist of her best female-friends-related songs, perfect for dancing with your Galentines or just for appreciating them!
- 22
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“22” is the ultimate Taylor Swift ode to young women. I, too, am often happy, free, confused AND lonely at the same time! Crazy. “22” is a celebration, a dance party and a shot of girl power (but not in a toxic or evil girlboss way).
Key Line: Yeah, we’re happy, free, confused, and lonely in the best way/It’s miserable and magical, oh yeah/Tonight’s the night when we forget about the heartbreaks/It’s time.
- Fifteen
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“Fifteen” is for the nostalgic girls on Galentine’s Day and for those who miss their childhood girlfriends. I would listen to this total country bop in middle school, wondering who’d be my Abigail when I made it to high school. Then I met her, and now we’re a five-hour flight apart. I’ll listen to “Fifteen” on Galentine’s Day to feel that happy little twinge of nostalgia.
Key Line: You sit in class next to a red-head named Abigail/And soon enough you’re best friends.
- Seven
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“Seven” is a song that will satisfy the folklore/evermore girl in every friend group. Yes, I realize that my first three song recs are all named after numbers. What can I say? Miss Swift has a way with both words AND numbers, apparently. This song is a tale of girlhood friendship, like “Fifteen,” but it’s more ethereal and less literal. I’m nineteen, but sometimes I look at my college roommates and feel six years old in my mind. When I listen to “Seven,” I’m a kid with skinned knees from a monkey bar accident, and my best friend is waiting in the nurse’s office with me. Does that make sense?
Key Line: And though I can’t recall your face/I still got love for you/Pack your dolls and a sweater/We’ll move to India forever.
Republic - Holy Ground
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DANCE BREAK. We’ve been too serious and nostalgic. I, like our queen, am “spinning like a girl in a brand new dress” when I listen to “Holy Ground.” Technically it’s a love song, and this is not supposed to be about men, but this is, first and foremost, a song to scream-sing to with your girlfriends. My shower buddy Amanda and I (we take neighboring stalls, curate a playlist and belt our lungs out) treat “Holy Ground” as a go-to for a good time.
Key Line: Tonight I’m gonna dance/For all that we’ve been through/But I don’t wanna dance/If I’m not dancing with you.
- You’re On Your Own, Kid
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I had to include something from Midnights. I’m not insane. If you really dissect the lyrics, this song give us a men-don’t-matter vibe, but in a sweet, growing-up type of way. We leave men behind, and we become our own independently valuable women. “You’re On Your Own, Kid” is “Fifteen” all grown up. This is a song for those girls who feel unfinished in becoming a person but are enjoying the ride and have girlfriends to go through it all with. Maybe I’m reading too much into these. Ah, who am I kidding? Taylor Swift is like Shakespeare; there is no ‘reading too much into it.’
Key Line: So make the friendship bracelets/Take the moment and taste it/You’ve got no reason to be afraid.
- The Best Day
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Okay, here me out. Technically “The Best Day” is about family. But when you go to college (especially if you’re out of state, or international, like me) your friends have a funny way of becoming your temporary family. This is a very specific example but bare with me: you know when it’s, like, Veteran’s Day? And you decide to not care about academics for a moment and you go to the beach and eat tacos or you go thrifting and get boba? And you and your friends are on the wonky bus ride home, exhausted, and on the brink of heat stroke but so content? This is a song for that kind of day.
Key Line: I didn’t know if you knew/So I’m taking this chance to say/That I had the best day with you today.
- Long Live
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Of course, we have to finish with “Long Live.” This is the friendship anthem. If I had had a prom (thanks, covid – and I could not be MORE sarcastic), and if they had played this song at that hypothetical prom, I think I would have passed out. Right in the middle of the dance floor. And they would have had to forklift me out of the hole in the ground that I created when I passed out because a) I ate too many chocolate-covered strawberries and now weigh a million pounds, and b) the shriek I let out when they played “Long Live” broke through the floor and made a sinkhole. So, yeah. It’s a banger.
Key Line: Long live the walls we crashed through/I had the time of my life with you
And a bonus line to cry to: If you have children some day/When they point to the pictures/Please tell ’em my name.
There you have it. I have borne my soul, and you now have seven new songs to add to your Galentine’s Day playlist. Because, and I say this with pure seriousness, what on Earth would Galentine’s Day be without Taylor Swift?
